Self-orientation of flatgoods



Dec. 17, 1968 H. ROSENFELD 3,416,238

SELF-ORIENTATION OF FLATGOODS Filed Ma .11, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor United States Patent Office 3,416,238 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 3,416,238 SELF-ORIENTATION F FLATGOODS Howard Rosenfeld, New York, N.Y., assignor to Linen Supply Association of America, Miami Beach, Fla., a

corporation of Illinois Filed May 11, 1967, Ser. No. 637,784 17 Claims. (Cl. 3423) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and article for improved flatgoods handling where washed flatgoods are deposited in a conduit and delivered by air to an unfolding station having an area larger than the conduit where the velocity of the articles is reduced and the article tends to orient itself to relaxed fiber condition imposed upon the article during original formation thereof.

This invention relates to a process for orienting flatgoods which are variously and randomly folded in a washing operation. The invention further relates to a process whereby flatgoods are both unfolded and oriented so that they may be properly received for further pressing, folding or other processing. The invention also relates to new flatgoods articles which are particularly adapted to be handled in the foregoing process.

Background of invention Commercial laundering of flatgoods such as sheets, towels, napkins, tablecloths and the like generally involves many machine units, conveyors and attending personnel to handle the flatgoods. It is, of course, necessary that the laundered flatgoods be neatly folded when delivered to the customer, but neat folding is not often attained in present methods and the folding quality which is attained involves a. significant processing expense. In the usual commercial operation, a number of workers are required to separate and to shake out the various articles and to feed the articles into ironers, folders or continuous washes. This feeding must be performed with unfolded and properly oriented flatgoods, which conditions are realized by the manual manipulation of the articles.

In an effort to reduce cost and increase efiiciency, many efforts have been made to make the overall laundering operation automatic so that the operation may be programmed to as great an extent as possible. In conventional systems a number of sorters are required in the soil room of a laundry to separate and count the various flatgoods so they may be handled in an approppriate washing process. An additional number of people are required in the wash room to service the wash wheels, extractors and conditioners. Still others are required for operation of the ironers and folders. It would be an unquestioned advantage to improve any facet of this overall commercial laundering operation relative to reduction of costs, increase of processing speed or efliciency, automatic manipulation, or the like, preferably to provide a completely automated system. One of the difiicult, costly and tedious aspects of the laundering operation is that which requires manually opening and flattening the articles, and further orienting the flat-goods so that the edges are correctly located for rapid and efficient reception by an ironer or folder. It would understandably be an added advantage if advances could be realized in separating, opening, flattening and orienting such flatgoods without relying exclusively on the present steps of the process or the present conventional apparatuses that could be used in the process. In other words, an advantage would flow from having the flatgoods or washed articles in and of themselves contribute toward reaching the goals of improved economy and efficiency.

More than half of the time spent in present laundering processes is expended between the conditioner or drier and the ironer. This segment of the operation is where time consuming manual and machine manipulations take place. If this segment of the operation were converted to an effective automatic process then the entire process could be automated and improved. The present practice contemplates an initial manual sorting, then automatic counting (when available) followed by continuously operating automatic loading and unloading washwheels, extracting and conditioning, and automatic separation (when available) into single pieces. But flulfing, opening up, squaring off and feeding into an ironer, along with similar operations, still is done manually. The ironer is continuously and automatically operated, and often leads to a folder from which the folded article may be fed into an automatic packaging machine.

Objects of invention It is accordingly, a primary object of this invention to provide a method whereby flatgoods may be unfolded through process steps which do not require the intervention or work of attending personnel. A consequent object would be a method for unfolding said flatgoods in accordance with automatic programming so that the variously folded flatgoods could be delivered at a desired rate to the place where opening of the flatgoods is accomplished and whereby said opened up flatgoods could then be delivered at a selected rate to subsequent processing stages such as folding or ironing.

Another primary object of this invention resides in the provision of a method wherein flatgoods are unfolded without manipulation by attending personnel; can be correctly oriented without requiring manipulation by manual means so that the oriented flatgoods articles can be correctly received at an ironing or folding station in a laundering process.

An additional object of the present invention resides in the provision of an overall method for handling washed articles or flatgoods in steps so that the flatgoods are manipulated by steps prior to unfolding the flatgoods and whereby the unfolding step may be most efficiently exercised.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a method in which particular types of flatgoods cooperate with the manipulative steps of the process to more efiiciently and economically effect unfolding, orientation and delivery of oriented flatgoods for further processing. In particular, improved flatgood articles enhance the success of the process where such articles have an imposed memory which facilitates opening and flattening of the flatgoods.

Anther object of the present invention resides in the provision of an apparatus and assembly in which the foregoing method can be practiced to advantage. An important aspect of this object is an apparatus which opens and flattens the flatgoods without requiring linkages, mechanical members or the like which would otherwise have to be articulated and otherwise coordinated to effect any unfolding of the flatgood articles. More particularly, this object is attained by an apparatus in which moving gaseous bodies are used to advantage to unfold the flatgood articles.

Still another object is an apparatus or assembly in which washed flatgoods are dried and separately delivered to an unfolding station and thereafter oriented in means which deliver the unfolded and oriented flatgood articles to a processing unit such as a folder or presser.

An additional object of the present invention resides in providing an apparatus in which flatgood articles are unfolded and oriented, and in which incorrectly oriented articles may be detected and returned to be again oriented in a correct manner.

A further object resides in providing an overall apparatus and assembly in which a washing operation is efiiciently automated from original feeding and washing of soiled articles to delivery of unfolded and oriented articles to a folding or ironing unit.

The drawings The various objects which were recited are realized by the following invention. However, additional objects and advantages will be realized from time to time in practicing the invention set forth in the following disclosure which includes drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a highly diagrammatic presentation of an apparatus which can be used to practice the method of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a highly diagrammatic side view of a portion of the apparatus indicated between the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view along line 33 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a plane view of a flatgood article particularly adapted in the practice of the present invention.

Detailed disclosure of invention The use of the same numerals in the various views will indicate a reference to same parts, structures, or relationships.

In the practice of the method and the use of the apparatus, a particular type of flatgoods material is used to realize the best advantages of the method. It has been found that a material should be used which is capable of having a memory characteristic imposed upon the fiber.

The memory characteristic may be impressed upon the fiber content or from the fabric finish, or a combination of both. The fabric finish may be of the Durable Press type, and the fiber content may include a substantial portion of synthetic memory fiber such as presently known polyester resins. The selvage and hem ends of the articles may be of different construction than the body of the article. This may be done by providing different warp threads in the body of the fabric and the selvage. The filling thread may be changed in a random manner so that the area which ends up as the hem will have a different construction. Parts of the articles may also be changed by sewing threads to the selvage or the hem consisting of metallic thread or 100% polyester fiber, for example.

Among synthetic materials upon which a memory may be impressed are known polyester resins, and it is suggested that the flatgoods could have at least 50% of fibers like polyester or their equivalent. The balance could be cotton or other synthetic or material fibers. A particular material which could be used to advantage is comprised of 65% polyester and about 35% cotton or rayon. The different fibers may be evenly distributed or be unevenly distributed throughout the article. The memory may be acquired by a resin cure before or after fabrication of the article, in which case the product may be 100% cotton or 100% other natural or man made fiber; or the resin finish may be combined with man made and natural fibers in the form of a blend or a mixture.

The term fiatgoods is intended to include washable articles which are well known and widely used such as towels, napkins, tablecloths, face towels, sheets, pillow cases, and other articles which may be processed in the manner set forth herein. Materials which contain substantial amounts of the memory fibers, such as polyester noted above, are widely used, and such materials are well known for their ability to assume a substantially wrinkle-free appearance following washing. The memory fibers will resume their original appearance without pressing or ironing, if properly conditioned. It is not a disadvantage to emphasize the use of such flatgoods in the present process and apparatus because the materials have other properties which would make them advantageous to users. For example, such fiatgoods have greater durability than cotton alone. A further advantage resides in the elimination of pressing, if desired, because such materials have a neat appearance when folded. The most important advantage is the particular usefulness of such materials in the practice of the process because the fiatgoods contribute to the unfolding step in the laundering process through the function of their memory fibers. This feature contributes to the economy and efliciency which can be obtained by practicing the method.

A flatgoods article which substantially consists of cotton fiber imparts a limpness to the article which tends to resist unfolding from a crumpled or otherwise variously folded state. Flatgoods which have a substantial proportion of memory fibers remember being in a flat and open state, therefore, such sheets tend to resume this state. The present process and apparatus therefore preferably is intended for use with flatgoods. The use of these goods will allow other features of the inventions to be practiced in an improved manner. For example, soiled fiatgoods may be more quickly processed because they are generally sorted by flattening so that the particular fiatgoods may be delivered to the appropriate washer or series of washers.

The process will be illustrated by specific reference to the drawings. The separation of the flatgoods into type and size is performed at a soil room sorter station A, and the sorted articles are routed to a washer station B. The washed and crumpled articles then are removed to a drying or conditioning station C where drying and separation of the articles is initiated. The articles then are delivered separately to a feeder station D from which they are fed in a desired timed sequence into a high velocity station E. The processing of the articles through stations E through H contribute particularly to imparting a new and improved result to the process. The articles move at high velocities to the unfolding station F where the articles move at a substantially reduced velocity to open up and flatten out. The unfolded articles are discharged into an orientation station G where the opposite edges of the articles are desirably squared for proper pickup at a later processing station. The articles then move through the orientation station to a sensing station H where any improperly oriented flatgoods are returned for reprocessing to be again unfolded and oriented. The properly oriented articles may then be moved automatically to a subsequent station having a fiat bed press and then to a folding station, both indicated at I. Following completion of the folding operation, the fiatgoods are handled for packaging and related operations to place the articles in condition for delivery to the customer.

A more detailed examination of the process and one apparatus for its practice will now be made. The soil room sorter station may have openings to conveyor tubes 10, or the like, on which different types of unfolded fiatgoods are placed (for example, a towel 12, a sheet 14 and a table cloth 16). The flatgoods are conventionally moved to their respectively designated conveying tubes, or the like, namely, towel conveying means 18, table cloth conveying means 20, and sheet conveying means 22. Conveying means 18 and 20 also are operatively associated with apparatus assemblies of the type which will be described in association with conveying means 22.

The sheets are delivered to a plurality of hoppers where they are automatically moved to washing wheels, such plural combinations of hoppers and washing wheels being indicated simply as washers at 24. It is understood that the laundering ingredients such as detergents, soap, bleach, and the like, may be automatically programmed into the various washers by means which are conventional and therefore not described in detail here. Venting of the washers is indicated by showing a common draw tube 26 which runs to a fan 28.

The washed articles are discharged at 24a onto a conveyor 30 and are conveyed in randomly folded condition to a sloped or inclined conveyor 32. The sloped conveyor 32 is provided with a plurality of shallow dividers 32a which are spaced at a distance sufficient to hold an individual crumpled article therebetween. Because the conveyor moves the articles from a lower level, marked by the conveyor 30, to a higher level, any upper article which may have happened to come to rest on a lower article between the dividers will fall off and back down the sloped conveyor 32. The foregoing condition results in the crumpled articles being individually delivered to a dryer or conditioner 34.

In this embodiment of the invention separation of articles may be initiated at the drying station C. The separation may not be completed here, but this is not necessary. The dryer 34 is provided with the usual heating elements and conveying means (not shown) for moving the articles therethrough. The articles preferably are moved through the dryer in a controlled time period so a substantial portion of the moisture is removed from the articles before the articles leave the dryer 34. Sheets. preferably containing at least about 50% of polyester fibers, will quickly dry under heating condition. The partly or completely separated articles then are moved onto an inclined vibrator table 36 which is shown at a lower level. The vibrator table 36 may be oscillated by eccentric weights or the like (not shown). Vibration facilitates complete separation of the substantially dried articles as they are received from the dryer. The functions of the foregoing sorting, washing and conditioning means at stations A, B and C may be performed by any conventionally known methods and devices.

The separated articles then are deposited into a hopper 37 which is controlled to deposit or drop the separated articles individually into a conduit 42. The conduit conveys or expresses the articles therealong at a high velocity in excess of about 1000 feet per minute.

It is desirable to have the velocity as high as can be impressed upon the articles, and as high as the dimensions of the apparatus will accommodate and subsequent processing will allow. This velocity can be about 7000 feet per minute. There is no particular fixed and critical level of velocity since this will in part be decided by the type of articles processed; the size of the apparatus; its handling capacity, and the like. The most desirable velocity can be determined by exercising only the usual skills which are available to practitioners. However, the velocity should be substantially greater than the velocity of the articles moved earlier in the process, such as along conveyors 30, 32 and such, as the rate at which the articles are dropped from the storage hopper 37 into the conduit 42. The conduit 42 may operate as a wind or suction tunnel. A high volume fan 44 may be provided to move a body of air along a wind tunnel at the desired high velocities.

The individual articles are expressed at the high velocities into a communicating unfolding chamber 46 which has a cross sectional area substantially greater than the cross sectional area of the conduit 42. The chamber 46 preferably is bulbous having an upwardly sloping floor portion 48 (FIGURE 3) which rises from a low point near inlet 50 of the chamber 46 to a high point near outlet 52 of the chamber. The sloping floor portion 48 preferably has an arced configuration as indicated by the dotted line 54 in FIGURE 3.

The articles which are rapidly moved into chamber 46 quickly slow down in said chamber relative to the velocity of the articles in the conduit 42. This occurs because the chamber 46 represents an enlargement relative to the construction of conduit 42. The lateral dimension of the chamber 46 is at least as wide as the diagonal dimension of the largest opened article passing therethrough. The velocity of the body of air is greater in the constriction relative to the enlargement because of the venturi ecect. The high velocity in the constriction is characterized by a lower pressure in the conduit relative to the chamber as is evident from the articles being carried by the body of air. The substantially reduced velocity of the. articles in the chamber cooperates in making the articles unfold and bottom on the floor portion 48 of the chamber. The velocity of the articles is substantially less than the velocity in the conduit 42, but still in excess of the velocity of the articles in earlier steps of the process. The velocity may be reduced in terms of thousands of feet per minute, in the conduit, to terms of hundreds of feet per minute in the unfolding chamber.

The unfolding chamber 46 may be provided with a heating element, such as schematically illustrated at 56, to raise the temperature within the housing substantially above the temperature in the conduit. Means may also be provided to substantially cool the unfolding chamber and to control the humidity therein. It is preferred that the practitioner be able to control environmental conditions to facilitate the unfolding operation with built in memory articles of different compositions, The practitioner may then readily determine which conditions of temperature and pressure are best recommended for any given fabric having memory characteristics.

The reduced velocity of the moving air in the unfolding station 46 will still move the unfolded articles along the floor portion towards the outlet 52. Outlet 52 has a cross sectional area which preferably is closely dimensioned to the width of the unfolded article so that the articles assume an oriented position as they enter the orientation station G. The orientation station also serves as a delivery means for the article to the processing station I. This delivery means is indicated as a delivery conduit 58 which has a flat conveyor indicated at 60 for delivering the articles to the processing station.

The controlled size of the outlet 52 will tend to orient the sheets as described, but more accurate orientation may be desirable. One embodiment for attaining such orientation would be to provide sheets such as that indicated in FIGURE 4. The sheet 62 would have its opposite edges, such as 62 and 64, provided with metallic threads 62a and 64a along the substantial length of said edges. The delivery conduit would then be provided with a magnetic bar or guide 66 to catch the metallic threads in the edge of the sheet adjoining the magnetic guide. A spreader member 68 may adjoin the magnet 66. The spreader 68, in one form, may be tilted upwards about 45 degrees to assure that the lower edge of the article will be placed in contact with the magnet 66. A gradually rising portion indicated at 68a of the spreader 68 could pick up the article on the spreader and a gradually lowering portion 6812 could return the sheet to the conveyor 60.

It is preferred that the opposite edges of the oriented sheet be properly squared off for proper pickup by a later processing station, and it is preferred to provide means to sense whether the sheet has assumed the desired accuracy of orientation. One embodiment would provide squaring off by using an air table with air jets to float the opened flatgoods a short distance in suspension. Guides or sidewalls may be provided which have a width corresponding to the width of the processed article. Conventional electric eyes 70 and 70a are then provided in a conventional circuit to detect misalignment from a preset norm. Incorrectly oriented sheets would be sensed and a suction force from means such as fan 71 would be triggered so that sheet would be pulled into a return conduit 72 which is shown as positioned to return misoriented sheets back to the dryer 34. Such sheets would again be moved through the process steps for unfolding and orientation. The article orientation would be realized by directing the air jets outwardly toward the sheet edges to cause the covered jets to move the article or sheet onto the uncovered and to cause the article to move to cover all of the jets or to arrive at a balanced condition where it will be properly oriented.

The correctly oriented sheets may then be delivered to a further processing station, shown here as a conventional ironer or folder 74. Still other processing stations may be added to the over-all processing sequence and the fiatgoods may be ironed as indicated.

The outstanding advantages of the process and the apparatus assembly are realized in using the flatgoods with a memory composed of memory fiber, a memory resin finish, or both. Such articles contribute markedly to making the process a success. These flatgoods will have selfopening features, will offer wrinkle resistance, will not succumb to objectionable limpness, and will permit controlled moisture absorption. Flatgoods users, especially commercial users such as hotels or restaurants, will find it persuasive to buy and use such materials. In great part, this persuasion will result from observing the neatly folded condition of the fiatgoods following laundering. This is not consistently attained with present laundering methods and apparatus. The efficiency and the reduced costs of the laundering process will, of course, be the important consideration.

It is understandably desirable to make the overall method automatic, that is, from sorting the soiled fiatgoods to the final processing step and operation which may simply be the folding of articles. Such an automated process may be selectively programmed so that particular fiatgoods may continuously be delivered at a predetermined rate to the various stations in the process. The details of such a program may be established by those familiar with this art in view of the present invention. It will be understood, however, that the various stations may be manually controlled by personnel who activate means such as the motors to move the conveyors, to actuate the heating elements, and to operate the fans or the like to move the body of air at the desired velocities. It is also evident that certain stations may be automatically controlled while others are manually controlled. Various advantages of the invention will still be realized from the steps and apparatus which lead to the opening up and spreading out of the flatgoods.

The invention may now be practiced in all the ways which may occur to such users, and all such practices are to be included within the teachings of the present invention so long as they are met by the terms of the following claims as given further meaning by the language of the preceding description.

What I claim as new and desire to secure as Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A method for opening up and spreading out washed and partially dried articles having built-in memory including the steps of:

individually depositing the washed articles into a conduit having a cross-sectional area of a first dimension;

expressing said articles along said conduit at a velocity substantially in excess of the velocity at which said articles are deposited in said conduit; delivering the articles at said high velocity into an unfolding station having a cross-sectional area with a second dimension, said second dimension being substantially greater than said first dimension;

reducing the velocity of said separated articles in the unfolding station to a speed substantially below the velocity at which said articles move in the conduit, said reduced velocity operating to unfold the articles and drop them into bottom contact with the communicating chamber; and

removing the unfolded articles through an outlet of a cross-sectional area having a third dimension, said third dimension being substantially less than said second dimension.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said second dimension of said unfolding station is .at least equal to the diagonal dimension of the articles.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said articles with the built-in memory include at least about one-half of polyester fibers.

4. The method of claim 1 which includes orienting the unfolded articles at an orienting station which adjoins the unfolding station so that said articles are properly oriented for subsequent processing.

5. The method of claim 1 which includes the step of sensing misoriented articles at the orienting station, and returning any said misoriented articles to an earlier processing station in the method so that said articles may be processed again.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the articles are expressed at a high velocity in the conduit by a body of air moving said articles at said high velocities at about iambient room temperature and where said moving body of air and articles being reduced in velocity in the communicating unfolding station.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the body of air moving at a reduced velocity in said unfolding station is heated substantially above room temperature whereupon the pressure from the introduced body of moving air is sufiicient to lower the articles into bottom contact in the unfolding station.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the unfolded articles in bottom contact with the unfolding station are moved upward along a gradual incline to said outlet.

9. The method of claim 1 which includes the prior steps of conveying a plurality of washed articles which are folded in a random manner individually to a drying station and moving the articles separately through said drying station until a substantial portion of the moisture is removed therefrom.

10. The method of claim 9 which further includes the steps of separately removing the substantially dry articles from the drying station and placing them on a vibrating station where the articles are maintained separate.

.11. An apparatus for processing articles having an imposed memory comprising:

means to deposit randomly folded Washed articles into an elongated conduit with means in said conduit to move the deposited articles at a substantially lineal velocity along said conduit;

an enlarged unfolding chamber communicating with the conduit and adapted to receive the articles and slow them to a velocity substantially reduced from the article velocity in the conduit, whereupon the randomly folded articles become substantially unfolded and move into bottom contact with the floor of the unfolding chamber;

an outlet of reduced opening to empty the unfolded articles from the unfolding chamber; and

means to deliver the unfolded articles to subsequent processing means.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the articles moving at a high velocity in the conduit are substantially reduced in velocity in the unfolding chamber, and wherein means are provided to heat the air in said unfolding chamber.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 which further includes means to orient the unfolded articles in the delivery means which adjoin the outlet from the unfolding chamber, said orientation means adapted to square the unfolded articles relative to proper manipulation by a further processing means.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 which further includes sensing means positioned in said delivery means to sense misorientation of the unfolded articles from a predetermined position, and means to return any such misaligned unfolded articles for passage through succeeding unfolding and orientation operations in said apparatus.

15. The assembly of claim 11 wherein the unfolding station has inclined and convex bottom leading towards an outlet of reduced dimension relative to the crosssection of the unfolding station, said reduced dimension of the outlet being sufficient to allow said articles to be properly oriented as the articles leave the unfolding chamber and enter the delivery means, said assembly being further characterized by and including:

a sloped conveyor adapted to pick up the washed articles in a randomly crumpled state from a lower level, whereupon said articles are raised to an upper level at the top of said sloped conveyor;

a dryer unit adjoining the sloped conveyor and adapted to receive individual articles from said sloped conveyor, said dryer adapted to move the randomly folded articles therethrough in a fixed time whereupon a substantial portion of the moisture is removed from the articles;

a vibrator unit adjoining said dyer unit and receiving the randomly folded articles from the dryer to maintain the articles separate by the vibrating action;

a feeding housing adjoining said vibrator to receive the articles from the vibrator and having outlet means to discharge randomly folded articles at predetermined time intervals, said conduit adjoining said feeding housing and adapted to receive the separate articles;

a fan communicating with the interior of said conduit, to move a body of air within said conduit at desired velocity levels;

said delivery means which are adapted to receive the unfolded article from the unfolding station having a dimension which substantially corresponds to the width of said articles;

sensing means in said delivery means to sense misalignment of said articles from a desired position, the conduit means communicating with said delivery means in association with said sensing means, and means to develop a suction in said return means so that misaligned articles are returned to the drying unit along said return means; and

a processing unit adjoining said delivery means, said delivery means including conveying means to deliver said unfolded and oriented articles to said processing unit.

16. An assembly as in claim 15 which further includes a spreader in said delivery means, said spreader sloping laterally so that one edge of the unfolded article is raised and the opposite edge is lowered;

means along the lower edge of said spreader to align the lower edge of said article; and

a straight portion in said delivery means to receive the finally aligned and unfolded article for checking at the sensing means.

17. An assembly as in claim 16 wherein said article includes metallic threads along the edges, and said means along the lower edge of the spreader for aligning said unfolded article is a magnetic straight guide which is adapted to attract the metallic threads in one of the opposite edges of said unfolded article to effect desired and final orientation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,303,604 5/1919 Sims. 1,838,885 12/1931 Tucker et al. 3022 3,303,577 2/1967 Lai-ng 34151 FOREIGN PATENTS 467,594 6/ 1937 Great Britain.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner. H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 302--2; 68-20, 210; 34-151 

